“I was just keeping her company. A beautiful woman shouldn’t be left alone. You never know who you’ll run into.” Thestranger’s smile never faltered, but her tone didn’t sound too friendly.
“You made it.” I said, standing up to give Vera a hug. She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me in for a kiss.
“Of course I did, princesa. And I see you’ve made a new friend.” She cleared her throat and turned toward the other woman who was now standing. “I apologize for interrupting your conversation with my girlfriend. I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Vera, and you are?” Okay, so we were girlfriends. I smiled at the sound of that.
“You have got to be kidding me!” We all turned to another voice at the bar. Rylee was glaring in our direction and was heading straight for us. What did we do?
I looked toward Vera who shrugged. I looked toward the stranger who was rolling her eyes. Did she know Rylee?
When Rylee finally came up to us, she ignored me and Vera. “What in the actual fuck are you doing here, Rebecca? You should know by now that you’re not welcome here!”
So her name was Rebecca. Why did that name sound familiar? “Rylee, hi. Is there a problem? We were just talking.
She turned to me and lost her glare. “Cara, you don’t know who she is? Rebecca? The piece of shit that cheated on Fallon and Mackenzie? At the same time?”
I gaped at her. I’d heard all about her, but I’d never seen her in person. It made sense why I was getting a weird feeling when we were talking.
She turned her attention back to Rebecca, who was smiling like nothing was going on. “It’s so good to see you again, Ryl. How are you?”
“Cut the bullshit, Becca! You need to fucking leave, or so help me god I will throw you out my damn self! You are not welcome here. If you step foot in this bar again, I will have you arrested for trespassing.”
“Whoah, Rylee. That’s a little extreme, don’t you think?” I asked. Sure, from what I’d heard about her, she wasn’t the greatest person. But to have her arrested? That seemed like a lot.
“No, Cara. It’s not at all. Fallon and Mackenzie are my best friends, and I am trying to create a safe space here. They come in all the time and I don’t want them to have to deal with her.”
She turned back to Rebecca, whose smile had fallen, and took a few steps closer to her. I got closer to Vera and she wrapped me in her arms. I was getting a little scared. I’d never seen Rylee so angry before, and I didn’t know what to expect.
“Listen, and listen good. You have hurt my friends enough. I will not tell you again. You need to leave, and you need to leave now. I don’t ever want to see you in this bar again. And if I get a word from anyone that they’ve seen you or you’ve tried to get close to Fallon or Mackenzie, I won’t be so nice the next time we meet. Understand?”
Rebecca took on an expression I couldn’t decipher before she nodded and left without another word.
“Damn. I’ve never seen you that mad before,” I said.
She huffed out a laugh and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. That was extremely unprofessional of me. I just really fucking hate her!”
“I get it. I’m not very fond of her either,” Vera responded.
“That’s because she talked to your woman.”
Vera squeezed me tighter. “Si,” was all she said.
Wait, was she jealous? No. She didn’t get jealous, right?
“Well enjoy the rest of your night. I’ve got to get back to work. Don’t tell my boss I threatened a customer, okay?”
We nodded and watched her take off back to the bar. As soon as she was gone I turned into Vera and gave her a kiss, letting it last longer than necessary. “You have nothing to be jealous of. I told her I was waiting for someone but she took it upon herself to sit down anyway.”
She caressed my sides and I wanted to forget about drinks and just go home. “I wasn’t jealous.” The look on her face told me that was a lie. “Fine. Maybe a little. Can you blame me? Look at you! I’m even jealous of myself that I get to see you in that outfit.”
“And maybe out of it if you’re good.” I winked.
“¡Mierda!” she groaned before pulling out my chair.
She chose the chair next to mine and made sure to get as close as humanly possible to me, our legs practically connected to each other.
The waitress came and took our orders. We decided to split an order of wonton tacos and a few beers. She ordered a Modelo and I ordered a Blue Moon with an orange slice.
When the waitress left, Vera pulled me closer by my waist, using her other arm to delicately trace circles up and down my arm. I shivered, smelling her cologne and feeling her proximity to me.
